This has been a season of loss in my small-town community. In the last 3 or 4 weeks, there has been two teen suicides, one gun threat at the high school, another suicide of a 41-year-old with children, accidental death of an 8-year-old, and the death of my 93-year-old neighbor and friend. I know that…
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What does “faith” mean? Is faith blind? Are faith and reason (thinking) connected or two separate things? Lately, I’ve been reading The Cross and the Crescent: Understanding the Muslim Heart and Mind by Phil Parshall. This post does not contain affiliate links, but I do recommend the book to those interested. In the first chapter,…
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Can you spot a modern-day Pharisee? How do you know if you are one yourself? I recently read a very interesting book by Timothy Keller called The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism (not an affiliate link). I admire the way Keller speaks like a normal person, not a hyper-educated scholar. He…
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If you’re part of our E-Team, you know Nancy Ruth is working on a new family Bible study. The working title is: Why Do Bad Things Happen? While this study still has a long way to go before it’s ready to be released, I thought it’d be fun to share with you a stand-alone lesson…
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Do you ever wonder what the world would be like without any pain or suffering? I am in the middle of a class on Christian Responses to Evil and Suffering. The question above was one of our topics this past week. It got me thinking and turning to look again at the description of heaven…
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If you were completely honest, how would you rank your current prayer life? Non-existent? Mediocre? Ok? Strong? Or vibrant? I doubt many of us (including me) would rate ourselves as having a “vibrant” prayer life. What does the Bible say about prayer? Is an “ok” prayer life really ok? Colossians 4:2 (NASB) 2 Devote yourselves to…
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I had some shocking news this week. I won’t go into the details, but I am having a hard time believing that it is real. For one thing, I don’t understand the why behind it. This isn’t the first time I’ve faced a great shock in life and I’m sure it won’t be the last.…
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Happy New Year! Today’s blog will be rather short, but I pray it’s one you’ll think about for much longer. Around New Year’s it’s common to think about where we’ve been and where we’re going. Here is a free a New Year’s resolution prayer for kids which does just that. Today though, let’s put a…
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This year my second-grade Sunday school co-teacher and I wanted to do something a little different. We decided to slowly build the nativity scene in our room by adding a few new pieces each week in December. I invite you and your family to join us on our journey to the manger as we prepare…
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What drove Nancy Ruth to write this book? How does it work? Today’s blog answers these questions. Praying Scripture We know we should read the Scriptures (Ps 1:1-2; Matt 4:4; 2 Tim 3:16-17; Rev 1:3), but have you ever prayed God’s Word back to Him? Many of the Psalms are songs of prayer written to…
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